The split-second before we collided, something Jaejung had told me came back.
If you run into preemptive gankers, avoid them no matter what.
But that was before the Orc Mage spawns went random. Judging from their numbers and gear, they looked about even with us. Hard to say if they were the killers he’d warned about.
In the meantime, the three men on their side reached us first.
At their head, a big guy gave his sword a little shake and spoke with a scowling face.
“Since we spotted that first, how about you yield?”
I’d expected them to swing first—surprisingly, not yet. Numbers matched, so talk first? From the way he started mouthing off the moment we met, he was trying to seize initiative.
The way he flicked his blade forward said he’d swing the moment things tilted. And while we talk, someone else could tag the mage—that’d be a pain.
And why should we give up what’s ours?
If PK starts, I’ll be fine. But what about my party?
Shield Warrior could probably hold one. The problem was Charming and PrettyGirl. Could they handle it? We’d never actually talked through this scenario.
On the other hand, they had three men. The woman, who knows.
Could I take two? Maybe. Positioning… Charming was in the back, PrettyGirl in front of her, so I could probably keep them covered.
I glanced at Shield Warrior and gave a signal. He flicked a look back that I read as: same page. If this got us killed, I’d owe apologies later. Or maybe I could buy time with a Return Stone long enough for our party to vanish.
I was ready to fight, and Shield Warrior looked like he was too. I glanced back—Charming and PrettyGirl were watching me. I dipped my chin and gave a tiny shake of the blades behind my back. Did they get it?
We really should’ve prearranged hand signals for moments like this.
“Just back off unless you’re looking to die.”
No Red Names on them—maybe not much PK experience.
I slid a foot forward and closed on them.
“We saw it first. If anyone’s backing off, it’s you. Don’t you think?”
I threw the threat down and walked straight toward them. I could feel a flicker of panic ripple through them. Right? These guys were PK rookies.
As I drew closer, one of them snapped.
“Screw it! Just hit ’em!”
The one on their left rushed me, shield up, bringing his sword down. That sealed the self-defense angle.
I slanted my left-hand blade to deflect his descending strike, knocking it off-line; his stance collapsed, eyes flaring wide. In that opening, my other sword whipped across and opened his throat. That probably shaved a huge chunk of HP.
When his buddy moved to help, I flowed around the other side and cut his neck again. His whole body shook; he couldn't move. A stagger. So players could be staggered like monsters. Good to know.
As I focused, every detail clicked into place—vision sharpening, senses waking fully.
I kicked the staggered guy hard, shoving him into his approaching teammates. They tangled and went sprawling.
A quick check of our side: Shield Warrior had braced up front, shield high, with PrettyGirl and Charming behind him. Charming already had a spell primed and fired at the ones I’d bundled together.
The guy I’d cut across the neck took Magic Arrow full-on with no guard and burst into light on the spot. The other two scrambled up and rushed me.
“Shield Warrior, right!”
Before the words were even out, Shield Warrior slammed one of them aside with his shield, bullying him away. Back to a clean 1v1 for me.
PrettyGirl?
She was circling wide around the fight, shield forward to cover vitals, sprinting for their archer at the rear.
If she hadn’t drawn the archer girl’s eyes, arrows would’ve started coming in at us from a blind angle. The moment the bow came out, PrettyGirl closed—good judgement. I’d give her high marks for that.
As for the sword-swinging idiot in front of me—he wasn’t my match. I met his blade with mine, stopped it cold, and in the same breath slashed his throat into a stagger, then finished the cut.
If he’d turtled behind his shield, he might’ve lasted. But with his stance ruined by wild swings, there were too many openings.
Shield Warrior’s opponent had already fled with a Return Stone—helped along, no doubt, by Charming’s pressure.
The woman PrettyGirl chased tried to run and stumbled. Archers are great at range, but once you let someone in, you’re done. You can’t exactly swing a bow like a melee weapon.
“Kya—!”
At the scream, PrettyGirl flinched for a split-second, the point of her blade hovering. After the briefest hesitation, she drove it straight in. Startled, the archer fumbled a Return Stone, and in an instant she vanished from the spot.
So they ran after all. Once one of them went down, they should’ve bailed immediately. Slow calls, these guys.
Even mid-combat, you can hit a Return Stone on a hotkey or log out to escape—if you make the call. Logging out drops you back at this spot, so in a situation like this, Return Stones are better.
I’d been worrying PrettyGirl couldn’t fight—jokes on me. Her judgement, reaction, and resolve were all more than solid. And Charming had a spell ready the moment we engaged.
I kicked this off without saying a word, and they just… slotted into place. Anyone watching would think we’d planned it.
“Good work.”
Even so, there are traces left after fighting people who look exactly like real humans. PrettyGirl still ran a little hot; Charming, tension spent, sat down on the spot. The only ones unfazed were me and Shield Warrior.
“You look fine, Shield Warrior.”
“Me? I put in a lot of hours on 3rd-gen VR. Kinda used to this.”
He tapped his shield twice with his sword and grinned—a relaxed swagger after a win.
Me, aside from a touch of elevated tension, I was fine. If anything, the way the world was so calm and clear around me felt strange.
PrettyGirl drifted over and sank to a squat nearby. Maybe she’s the type whose tension lingers a bit. She stared at me with slightly hazy eyes, a dazed look that pulled the air taut in a weird way. I looked away before I got caught staring. Dangerous.
“It’s over. You did great.”
“...Okay.”
Was she alright? I watched a little longer; she returned to normal quickly.
“You’re impressive. Honestly, I didn’t even clock they had an archer. If you hadn’t broken off, we would’ve taken a few arrows.”
“I just… saw it.”
The way a girl’s cheeks glow when praised—no words for it.
“To be honest, I thought you wouldn’t be able to go through with the last stab. That was impressive too.”
PrettyGirl chewed on the moment, then spoke.
“They were trying to kill us first, right?”
“Yeah. They were.”
“Then letting them go would be weirder.”
Shield Warrior, listening in, cut in with a laugh.
“Perfect answer. If it were reversed, they’d absolutely have tried to kill us. Letting people who want your head walk away—that’s the real joke. You did right.”
PrettyGirl nodded.
Charming let out a long breath as her nerves eased; the light came back to her eyes.
“You too, Charming. Great work. You used the spell really well.”
“Oh, please. You all fought up front so I could take it easy in the back.”
“We pressed in because we trusted your magic.”
That made both of them smile.
They were okay now.
Maybe both Charming and PrettyGirl have 3rd-gen VR game experience? I’ve never asked. If not, handling it that well is downright amazing.
We were recognized for self-defense, so no one’s name turned Red, and the other party dropped a decent pile of items.
“Oh! The mage.”
At that, we all looked back to where the mage had been. Still there, thankfully.
“Let’s clean it up before another group shows.”
Shield Warrior sprang up. I rose with him, and Charming and PrettyGirl followed as we closed on the mage pack.
***
“Good work today.”
We snagged another Orc Mage—this time a staff and a grimoire dropped. Shield Warrior offered to sell the grimoire and handle the split; I decided to trust him with it. If he runs off, that’s on my read of people. Charming and PrettyGirl had no objections.
We handed the Forest Staff straight to Charming.
“Phew… my tab just shot through the roof.”
Charming sighed, but she was smiling. She’d basically gotten everything a mage could want; hard not to be happy.
We’d also piled up a lot of drops from the monsters.
***
0 Forest Arm Guards / DEF 2
0 Forest Leg Guards / DEF 2
0 Forest Shoes / DEF 2
0 Forest Greatsword / ATK 2–6
0 Forest Pike / ATK 2–6
0 Forest Shield / DEF 4
0 Forest Square Shield / DEF 5
0 Forest Shortbow / ATK 2–4
0 Forest Longbow / ATK 2–6
***
We filled gaps in our armor where needed and split those up. PrettyGirl hefted the greatsword a few times, then said she wanted to try it and took it. A tiny girl swinging a blade as big as she is… I almost told her no, but she genuinely liked it, so I let her.
No one needed the pikes or the bows, so we decided to sell them. Same for duplicate or extra armor. For my stuff, I asked Shield Warrior to handle the sale—short on time.
“Mind skimming a commission?”
“Sure. Thanks for the work. See you tomorrow.”
Even if he carried off the lot, it wouldn’t be worth the headache. I don’t want to overcomplicate things playing a game. Unless a single drop is worth hundreds of thousands, this approach is fine.
***
By the time I slept, woke, and got to the PC bang, the Lost Sky homepage forum was on fire.
— Wow… gaming superpower confirmed. They already broke through.
— Server 1 cleared Orc Village? Who did it?
— Proof pic incoming. Selling the chieftain’s head.
— No trolling. But yeah, it’s real. Orc Village changed.
— Light literally fell from the sky. No joke.
— What did the chieftain drop? Anyone got details?
— The glaive the chieftain was holding. Endgame weapon dropped.
— Buying the glaive for 100 million won. No jokes.
— Do you even have 1 won?
I scrolled and scrolled until curiosity won. I jacked into VRS #2.
“Was that your crew that broke it?”
“Yeah! That was me.”
This guy… he really did it.